


Stalker and Theif

by Seasnake



Series: Miraculous Shorts [2]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, I'm Sorry, Law Enforcement, Stalking, Theft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-26
Updated: 2017-12-26
Packaged: 2019-02-16 17:10:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13058457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seasnake/pseuds/Seasnake
Summary: Don't steal people's phones! So many ways that could have gone wrong, including this way.





	1. Original drabble

            The Copycat Akuma was almost disastrous and if that wasn’t bad enough Adrien couldn’t find his phone. He was lucky his bodyguard was an idiot and didn’t notice that he’d been gone for over an hour.

 

“Hey,” the gorilla grunted for Adrien’s attention. “Here.” He passed him a phone.

 

“Hello?”

 

“Adrien I’ve been calling you.” Natalie sounded annoyed.

 

“Sorry, I lost my phone.”

 

“You’ve been looking for it since fencing ended?” Now, Natalie wasn’t an idiot.

 

“Yeah, I know I had it then but I’ve searched the whole gym; can’t find it.” He emphasized so she wouldn’t question his absence.

 

“I’ll track it. Just a moment.”

 

“Thanks.” He waited while she used her laptop. Could his phone be tracked while he was Chat Noir? Probably not, but he’ll ask Plagg.

 

“You’re certain you had your phone at practice?”

 

“Yeah, I checked the time on it.”

 

“Have you been anywhere other than school today?”

 

“No.”

 

“Didn’t go anywhere for lunch?”

 

“No. Why?”

 

“Don’t worry about it now. Come home at once. Pass me to your driver.”

 

“Okay? Natalie wants to talk to you.” He gave the phone back to the Gorilla. The big man grunted in affirmative twice then hung up. “Weird,” Adrien shrugged as they drove home. He’d lost most of his afternoon and now needed to worry about homework.

 

            Money greases wheels so in less than half-an-hour Natalie had made the necessary calls and police called on the Dupain-Cheng bakery. “Officers! Good evening, how may I help you?” Tom was understandably startled to see two uniformed men enter.

 

“We’re here on official business. We have reason to believe there’s stolen property on the premises.”

 

“Stolen property?! What are you talking about?” By this time the two girls (and Kwami upstairs picked up on the conversation)

 

“Yes sir, we have a warrant to search your house for a stolen cell phone.”

 

            “Aaahh!” Marinette quietly screamed. “How did they find out.”

 

“It must have GPS. Girl, give it back! Give it back!”

 

“Yeah, it’s not a big deal, right? What girl hasn’t borrowed something from her crush? Oh, I am in so much trouble.” Sounds of people walking around downstairs. “Eep!”

 

“Chill out, Mari, all you can do now is fess up.”

 

“I’m going to jail!”

 

“You won’t go to jail. Adrien will be cool about it.”

 

“Yeah, cool, Adrien’s very cool. Ack!” she jumped when Tom pushed the door open.

 

            “Marinette, there are police here.”

 

“Oh, really? What are they looking for? I mean, why would the police be here?” She tried to come downstairs but Roger was already on his way upstairs and Tom let him into Marinette’s room.

 

“Mlle. Dupain-Cheng, Adrien Agreste reported his phone stolen. Would you know anything about that?”

 

“Oh, you mean this phone?” Marinette quickly handed it over. “Yep, Adrien’s phone I found it at school.”

 

“See, a lost phone. Nothing to worry about.” Tom held his daughter’s shoulder.

 

            Roger looked from the numerous posters, to Marinette’s guilty body language, and to Alya trying to look like she didn’t know anything. “Where did you find his phone?”

 

“Uh, at school, you know, where we both have class.”

 

“Hm.” Roger turned the screen on to see it was unlocked and open to the voice messages. Odd.

 

“Did you unlock it?”

 

“Only to check his messages and stuff, just, before I gave it back to him. Which I was totally going to do.”

 

“Sir, I think your daughter best join us down at the station.”

 

“What? Over a phone?”

 

“Technically, sir, unlocking another student’s phone without permission is hacking and invasion of privacy. It would be best to get her official statement in case the other party wishes to press charges.”

 

“I understand.” Tom sighed. “Give us a moment, officer?”

 

“Of course, please prepare to leave,” Roger left by the stairs.

 

“Girl, don’t say anything without a lawyer!”

 

“Alya, perhaps you should go home?” Tom frowned at the other girl.

 

“Oh, right, sorry.” Alya gave Marinette a reassuring pat then excused herself. The second Tom turned his ‘Dad glare’ on Marinette she cracked.

 

“Papa! I’m so sorry, I did it! I stole Adrien’s phone. I was going to give it back, I swear.”

 

“Calm down, Marinette, just tell me what happened.”

 

“I accidentally left an embarrassing voice message asking him out. I just needed to delete it before he heard it.”

 

            Tom sighed again. “I understand, but you did break the law, Marinette.”

 

“I know, I’m sorry.”

 

“I think your friend might be right. I’ll have your mother call a lawyer while we go to the station.”

 

“I really messed up, didn’t I?” He couldn’t say anything to that and just patted her head.

 

“Get your jacket I need to close the store, alright?”

 

“Alright.”

 

            Tom solemnly descended the stairs. He knew raising a teenage daughter would be difficult, there would be boys, friends, dances, and maybe a few stupid mistakes. He was expecting something more along the lines of accidentally drinking too much at a party or crashing a car, not theft.

 

            “Adrien? Yes, of course Marinette talks about him all the time.” Sabine was talking to the other officer.

 

“Honey,” Tom waved her over. “I’m taking Marinette to the police station. Call Barnier and have him meet us there.” After owning a business for years they knew a few lawyers.

 

“Barnier? Did she…” Sabine stopped herself. “Yes, I understand.” Marinette came down from her room, looking like the guilty little girl who’d stolen all of a customer’s cookies.

 

            Roger spoke to his partner then approached the family. “Excuse me, we must do this officially.” He led her out to the patrol car. “Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng, you are being detained under reasonable suspicion of theft, hacking, and invasion of privacy. As you are under 18 you may have a parent or legal guardian as well as a lawyer present for questioning.” He continued but Marinette only half listened as she got into the police car.


	2. Chapter I wrote instead of sleeping

It wasn’t until the next day when Adrien heard about his phone again. Natalie had lent him an older spare model to use that day at school. Marinette hadn’t been at school but she was kind of flaky on attendance anyway so it didn’t register as weird. Or it wouldn’t have except that Alya seemed to be eyeing him all day. His day was taken up by hanging out with Nino, listening to Chloe suggest new phones he could buy to replace his lost one, and class work.

 

When he got home, Natalie ordered him into the dinning room. To his surprise, two police officers were downstairs, and even more shocking his father was actually in attendance.

 

The police introduced themselves and shook his hand. The female detective then asked if he could answer some questions.

“Is something wrong?”

 

“Just answer their questions, Adrien,” Father snapped at him.

 

“Yes sir, sorry.”

 

            The officers nodded and got out a notebook and tablet respectively. “You lost your phone yesterday?”

 

“Yes officer.”

 

“When did you last use it and what for?”

 

“I was at fencing practice. I took a water break, checked the time on my phone and saw that I had a few missed calls, then I put it back in my bag. I went to the bathroom and finished practice. Changed out of my fencing gear, took my bag home, and then realized I didn’t have my phone.”

 

“Did you call your number?”

 

“Yes, when I got home and couldn’t find it.”

 

“Do you remember the missed calls?”

 

“Um,” he had to think about that, “one from Nino, an unknown number, some text messages and web alerts, I think.” The police made note of this for some reason.

 

            “Was your locker secured in any way?”

 

“Yeah, the gym has locks on all of them.”

 

“Was your phone password protected?”

 

“With one of those picture locks that you have to tap in the right order to unlock,” he nodded.

 

“And you’re certain it was locked this way when you left it?”

 

“I don’t remember. But it’s set to automatically lock after a few minutes.”

 

“Have you told anyone how to unlock your phone?”

 

“No, not even Natalie.” Adrien desperately wanted to know where these questions were leading but with Father and Natalie staring him down dared not ask.

 

            The officers made a few notes, nodded to each other and then the detective turned her tablet around for him to see. “Do you know this person?”

 

“Yes, that’s Marinette Dupain-Cheng, her parents own a bakery.”

 

“How do you know her?”

 

“She’s in my class.” This was steadily becoming more worrisome. The female officer took her tablet back.

 

“How would you describe your relationship with Marinette Dupain-Cheng?”

 

“Um, classmates. Acquaintances? She seems nice but I don’t know her that well.” More notes.

 

“Do you share any extracurricular activities with Dupain-Cheng?”

 

He had to think about that for a second, “no.”

 

 “Do you ever see Dupain-Cheng outside of class?”

 

“Sure, our class has lunch together sometimes and she lives near the school so I see her around.”

 

“Has she ever been at one of your photoshoots?”

 

“Yes, once. That shoot in the park last month for the spring line,” he addressed this to Natalie. “Marinette, Alya, and a girl they were babysitting were there.”

 

“Has you ever seen her at your fencing practice?”

 

“Um, no, I don’t think any of her friends are in fencing.”

 

“Do you have her personal phone number.”

 

Another one he had to think about, he had most of his classmates numbers. “No, I don’t or didn’t, it was in my phone. I had Alya’s though, and she said she could pass on a message to Marinette if I ever needed to talk to her.”

 

            “Are you friends with Alya?”

 

“I guess? We talk and I read her blogs and newsletters.”

 

“Has she ever talked to you about Dupain-Cheng?”

 

“They’re best friends, she talks about her.”

 

“Anything in particular?”

 

That would involve the police? No way. But he didn’t say that. “Nothing that comes to mind.”

 

“Did she mention how Dupain-Cheng felt about you?”

 

“She said Marinette wants to be a fashion designer. I think he’s a fan of my father’s work.”

 

“Have you noticed her with any photos of you?”

 

“Sure, but, I mean,” kind a dumb question, “everyone does.”

 

“Have you noticed her taking any pictures of you herself?”  


“No.” That would be weird.

 

“Did you speak with Dupain-Cheng yesterday?”

 

“No. We don’t speak often. I didn’t talk to Alya yesterday either.” He spent lunch talking to Jeluka about makeup brands.

 

            “Would Dupain-Cheng have any reason to think that the two of you are in a relationship?”

 

“What? No! I told you, we’re barely friends.” Now Adrien was getting concerned.

 

“When was the last time you spoke with her?”

 

“Uh…” it was completely escaping his flustered mind. “I don’t know. She’s pretty quiet, maybe in the halls.” Oh, now he remembered. “Earlier this week, Tuesday, I think, she tripped on the way to class. I handed her bag back and asked if she was alright.”

 

“Do you remember what she said back?”

 

“‘Thanks’ and stuttered a lot about how she didn’t want to be late.”

 

“Is that typical of your interactions?”

 

“Pretty much.” He was getting sick of answering these questions. The detective must have sensed this and prepared to wrap it up.

 

“Who would know the details of your schedule?”

 

“Just, Natalie, Father, and Nino.”

 

            She passed him her tablet again. “Do you recognize this?” It looked like hand written day planner. He had to scroll to see it all. “This looks like my schedule.” It had everything on it, some stuff that he didn’t even bother to remember and just had Natalie keep track of. “Wait, did Marinette have this? I didn’t give her…” Never mind Akumas this was the scariest thing he’d seen in ages. She could speak to him any time she wanted why did she have this? He needed some space. “Excuse me,” he set the tablet down and made to stand up, “I have to…” He was suddenly dizzy when the tried to step away. Natalie and Father were at his side in an instant, Father actually touched him, and helped him sit back down.

 

            Natalie patted his shoulder. Adrien stared down at the table. He vaguely heard Father rant to the police about restraining orders. He knew some fans of his modeling might want to follow him around and try to get to know him better or claim to love him just because they liked how he looked. But a girl in his class? She barely even spoke to him. Why go through all that trouble of following him when she could just ask him to lunch? Oh no, what else did Marinette know? Did she steal his phone? Did she know he was Chat Noir?


	3. Chapter I wrote to wrap things up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Please don't hate me for this. It was the best way I could think of to end the corner I'd written myself into.

A downtrodden Marinette sat between her parents. She no longer had her earrings. The police were going to take them away with the rest of her clothes except Tikki assured her she’d contacted The Guardian to pick her up. Marinette took off the studs before she was processed, wrapped them in tissue, and hid them in the corner of the women’s rest room. She wasn’t happy about this but Tikki had insisted and it was better than them sitting in police evidence. Maybe five minutes after she did this, there was a small commotion as an elderly gentleman accidentally went into the ladies room.

So now she sat in a juvenile detention center, listening to a lawyer explain how badly she screwed up.

“M. Agreste has filed for a restraining order. This might be a problem considering you live near the school.”

“Should we move?”

“Papa, no! I’ll live somewhere else!” She couldn’t inconvenience her parents. 

“I might have an alternative,” their lawyer spoke up. “I’ve spoken to a few colleagues and I think we might have a mental health plea.”

“My daughter’s not crazy.”

“I’m not saying she is. However, she matches the profile of an ‘intimacy seeker stalker’. She could be admitted to a low security mental facility with a good chance of no criminal record or a sealed juvenile record. It would also give me room to bargain the restraining order or at the very least allow plenty of time for the bakery to relocate without going public.”

“Never mind the business, what about Marinette’s future?”

“Mlle. Even after all this, do you still imagine the boy realizing that the two of you are meant to be together?”

Marinette had to think about that. Years down the road of course, but if Adrien could forgive her, he might realize that she just wanted to get to know him better. She’d design outfits for him, they’d go to the movies, and have three children…”Ack! I think I might need help.”

Epilogue:  
Marinette would have preferred to be at home, of course, but she could learn to like it here. She had a small private bedroom with a window big enough to climb out of, if she was still Ladybug. The staff and nurses were nice and didn’t laugh when she tripped going up or down the stairs. Her primary doctor let her keep her sketch book and dairy and hang designs on the walls of her room. Marinette’s neighbors were friendly without being nosy. The girl on her left had depression and while upbeat when talking to someone also spent a lot of time asleep. The girl to the right was severely agoraphobic and only visited Marinette’s room if she promised to keep her window blinds closed.

The center also allowed visitors. Her parents came whenever they could. Alya brought ‘get well soon’ wishes from several of their classmates. Nino and Adrien were the only other people to know the details of why she was in hospital. Marinette wasn’t supposed to ask about Adrien; but Nino sent well wishes and that an unnamed party was still coming to grips with things but would be able to forgive her one day.

There was only one friend Marinette missed. At least until her ‘great uncle’ came for a visit and brought her a pair of earrings and stuffed animal.

**Author's Note:**

> I looked up French law on Wikipedia.


End file.
